Retired WNBA forward, Kym Hampton. Photo Credit: WNBA.com

Retired NBA player Kym Hampton talked about current stars in the WNBA with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson while on Scoop B Radio. Press Play Below To Listen

Drafted fourth in the 1997 WNBA Elite draft by the New York Liberty, Kym Hampton suited up for the New York Liberty for three seasons.

Hampton retired from basketball in 2000 following a 12-year professional stint in Europe along with her three years in the WNBA. She averaged 9 points and a shade under 6 rebounds per game and played in the inaugural WNBA All Star Game.

These days, Kym Hampton is modeling and singing.

Check her out

In between acting and singing, she’s also keeping her eyes on the talent on the floor. So who are some of her favorites. “Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore, Tina Ch’arles; you could go down every team’s roster and find a plethora of players that are doing it up big. ” Kym Hampton told me on Scoop B Radio.

“Talent-wise it is going strong, but everything in the professional age is all about the bottom line.”

Hampton was part of the early years of the WNBA. Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Rebecca Lobo and Teresa Weatherspoon were the faces of the WNBA and  of the league.

Minnesota Lynx’s Maya Moore. Photo Credit: Women/Girls Basketball

So while she watches the new era, does she have a favorite? “I wouldn’t be able to answer that per se” she said diplomatically.

“But it looks like it’s going strong and it looks like they have intentions of continuing it so I’m just going to roll with it and not make any predictions because all predictions have been just that, predictions.”

Suggested Articles: 

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Scoop B: Kym Hampton Lists Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Others As Her Favorite WNBA’ers to watch appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Becky Hammon and Nancy Lieberman. Photo Courtesy of NBC Sports

Nancy Lieberman is a trendsetter in basketball. Lieberman has worked hard amongst both men and women in basketball on the court and in coaching for over 20 years.

Check out Sacramento Kings assistant coach Nancy Lieberman’s discussion with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio. Press Play Below to listen!

Currently an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings, she’s always defied odds. While in high school as a junior, Lieberman represented the U.S. at the Pan American Games in 1975.

She’d make history afterward when she made the Olympic team and earned a silver medal. History was made then when she became the youngest basketball medal winner in the history of the Olympics.

In between then and now, Coach Lieberman played on the U.S. Women’s National Team, the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and was the president of the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Like Lieberman, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach, Becky Hammon is also a trendsetter in sports.  A sixteen year WNBA vet, Hammon signed with the New York Liberty as an undrafted free agent in 1999 and played for New York until 2006.

“My journey as a basketball player and how the fans have always embraced me even when I was the last person on the bench; I have had to work my way up each year with the Liberty,” Becky Hammon told me.

“Nothing came easy to me.”

Check Out Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson Discuss Becky Hammon on Arise TV

During her stint with the Liberty, the 5’6 guard helped lead the franchise to three WNBA Finals appearances. She retired from basketball in 2014 as a member of the San Antonio Stars. In the summer of 2015, Hammon coached the San Antonio Spurs’ summer league team to a championship in Las Vegas.

“I think that her story herself is very inspiring for not only women but it’s that underdog story,” retired WNBA player Swin Cash told me.

“She came into a situation where she had to fight her way to get everything she has.”

Lieberman is elated that both she and Lieberman bore over the years as it relates to equality. “It’s what we do,” Nancy Lieberman told me on Scoop B Radio,

“I mean I’ve been coaching for 22 years now and everything I’ve done in my life I’ve been around guys whether it was playing for Pat Riley and the Lakers in their summer league or playing for the Jazz in ’86. I was head coach of the Dallas Mavericks D-League team five years ago, the Texas Legends. So this is just normal for me. However, the more people see Becky and myself the more it becomes normal to everybody else this is just what we do and we’re comfortable doing it.”

Suggested Articles:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Nancy Lieberman Says The More People See Herself & Becky Hammon As Assistant Coaches In The NBA, ‘the more it becomes normal to everybody else’ appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

OAKLAND, CA – 2000: Tracy McGrady of the Toronto Raptors competes in the Slam Dunk competition at the Oakland Arena on February 2000 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory copyright notice: Copyright NBAE 2000 (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

Tracy McGrady was one of the most successful swingmen to play in the NBA. At a slim and lanky 6’8, McGrady had a quick first step, a smooth glide to the basket, a jab step with counter moves and a crossover dribble that makes you think Kevin Durant and George ‘The Iceman’ Gervin all-in-one.

To quote the late Notorious B.I.G., the Washington Wizards, Shawn Bradley and the New Jersey Nets ‘have a story to tell’ after the nightmares McGrady gave them with his scoring assaults that he unleashed in his prime.  

Step-backs and fall-aways, creativity in mid-air that seemed effortless, Tracy McGrady was the real deal in his NBA career.

This weekend, McGrady a 14-year retired NBA veteran, who in 938 games averaged 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Historically, many remember McGrady’s Houston Rocket days when he heroically scored 13 points in 35 seconds.

That December 9, 2004 rescue and 81-80 win over the San Antonio Spurs was no easy feat. For posterity’s sake, that was no easy feat. In 33 seconds, it took four buckets from beyond the arc, a made free throw to complete a four-point play and a steal to win by one point!

The only remotely exciting comparison to that game was the Indiana Pacers’ Reggie Miller’s eight points in nine seconds performance against the New York Knicks. With the Pacers down eight points with in nine seconds remaining in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals, Reggie Miller pulled off a comeback like no other.

I’ll tread lightly though; Knicks fans are still healing from that disappointment.

McGrady’s journey is memorable and worth recounting. Tracy McGrady was drafted ninth by the Toronto Raptors in the 1997 NBA Draft. That draft class was laden with talent with two future Hall of Famers standing out from that list: Detroit Pistons hero Chauncey Billups and old reliable San Antonio Spurs big, Tim Duncan.

McGrady was special; so special the biggest rumor in 1997 was that the Bulls were looking to trade Scottie Pippen to acquire him.

In Jonathan Abrams’ book “Boys Among Men,”  (H/T CBS Sports’ Matt Moore)  it was revealed that Tracy McGrady was nearly traded to the Chicago Bulls for Scottie Pippen on draft night in 1997, but Michael Jordan vetoed it. McGrady confirmed that on an episode of ESPN’s The Jump with Rachel Nichols.

As Vice President of Basketball Operations of the Toronto Raptors, NBA Hall of Famer and two-time champ Isiah Thomas drafted McGrady in ‘97.

In Toronto, Thomas built a promising young roster when he drafted Damon Stoudamire, McGrady and Marcus Camby. What was significant about that budding roster was a). They played what is known in today’s game as small ball. b). McGrady would leave Toronto and flourish in Orlando.

**Expect Kyrie Irving’s move from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics to have a similar impact.

In a recent interview on Scoop B Radio, Isiah Thomas, now President of Basketball Operations for the WNBA’s New York Liberty broke down his thought process while housing McGrady in the 6. “When I put together the Toronto Raptors, if you remember the power forward position at that time was a position of strength, dominance, and you had to be physically strong to play that position,” Thomas told me.

“The shooting guard would be coming off of the power forward and the center would be your offense. During that time, what I talked about with my scouting staff and also our ownership group at that time was that we have to find a way to change the game and really affect things out on the floor. We came up with what we called the Raptor Two. And Raptor Two basically had to be a power forward that could also have guard skills, he had to be able to switch the power forward and the shooting guard and not lose ground.”

Added Thomas:

“One of the first trades that I made was for Doug Christie. The game was getting smaller, we had eliminated the power forward position and made it a very skilled position, so I’ll fast forward then I”ll take you back to McGrady. The thing that I left Toronto with was Stoudamire, Camby, Christie, McGrady, and they drafted [Vince]Carter, that was the blueprint.”

For two seasons (1998-2000), McGrady, Vince Carter, Doug Christie and company would lead the Raptors to a 68-64 record. Those feats included the Raptors first-ever winning season where they went 45-37 in 2000.

Toronto also made their first NBA playoff appearance, where they’d be swept 3-0 by the New York Knicks. Despite being swept, McGrady earned his big payday in the NBA Playoff. In game one, T-Mac registered 25 points and hauled in 10 rebounds.

“With T-Mac, a lot of people don’t know or would know that T-Mac was a decent player when he left Toronto and he got the opportunity with that one playoff game where they played New York,” McGrady’s Orlando Magic teammate, Darrell Armstrong told me on Scoop B Radio.

That offseason, McGrady bolted Toronto and signed a six-year, $67.5 million contract with the Orlando Magic. “Vince was being covered so much by all the guys on New York that T-Mac started to get off,” said Armstrong.

“And people started to see T-Mac’s talent during the playoffs that year. That is when we went and got him and that is when he came to the Magic that next year and what he did from there was just amazing because that is what he was supposed to be doing when he got to Toronto.”

Tracy McGrady guarded by Michael Jordan. Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports

A chance to play in his home state of Florida and team up with Grant Hill? Who could blame T-Mac?

“He put in the work and he dedicated himself everyday when he got into the game,” said Armstrong.

“He [knew he] was going to be one of the top players in the league and he did it. It was fun to see him and Kobe Bryant go at each other, Michael Jordan go at each other.  I was just amazed by it, the things that he could do. But he was something special.”

Although McGrady struggled to get out of the second round of the NBA Playoffs, we can never forget the 2003 NBA Playoffs when the league’s scoring champion shot over 51 percent from the field against the Detroit Pistons in their round one series.

The Magic had a 3-1 lead in the series with McGrady scoring 43, 46, 29 and 27 points, respectively against Detroit; but Orlando couldn’t seal the deal. They were eliminated.

If you’re keeping score at home, other exciting Tracy McGrady moments include:

• Landing an off-the-backboard alley-oop, thrown to himself during the 2002 NBA All Star Game.
• McGrady’s Adidas sneaker commercials were also enjoyable. 
• McGrady’s global reach in China substantiated after teaming with Yao Ming in Houston.
• Most importantly: McGrady’s duels with Kobe Bryant were legendary.

Suggested Articles:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Scoop B: Tracy McGrady’s Hall of Fame Career Is A Master Class In Knowing Self-Worth appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Spike Lee courtside at Madison Square Garden, Photo Courtesy of Yard Barker

Candice Wiggins had a very successful WNBA career. Wiggins won a WNBA Championshop and once won the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year Award.

But, to add to that list, she can say that as a member of the New York Liberty, she played in front of die-hard New York Knicks fan Spike Lee.

Wiggins retired from basketball as a member of the New York Liberty in 2015. But she distintly remembers Lee sitting courtside!

“I would say, you know the coolest thing was playing in Madison Square Garden and just helping the Liberty have the best season in history,” Wiggins told me on Scoop B Radio.

How cool is that? 

Check Out Candice Wiggins and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson chatting on Scoop B Radio.

“And I would say having Spike Lee at the game. He came to our two last games. He came to the Eastern Conference Semis and then the Eastern Conference Finals and I remember the whole season I was saying the last year: ‘I know I’ve made it, as soon as I signed with the New York Liberty, I said: I know I’ve made it when Spike Lee comes to a game.’ And I kinda just put that out there in the universe and every time I would say it to people, people were just like: ‘Man, Spike Lee ain’t coming to no WNBA game, he ain’t coming to our game, he’s never coming to our game. He ain’t in 20 years.’  Everyone kind of just rolled their eyes.”

Retired WNBA player Candice Wiggins chats with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio about playing at Madison Square Garden In front of Spike Lee. Photo Courtesy of New York Daily News

But Wiggins had faith as small as a mustard seed. And guess what? Spike Lee came to a New York Liberty game!

“I’m like: ‘man I have a feeling, man I just have a feeling that if we get good enough.’ I was just putting it out in the universe and then I’ll never forget I was warming up and then I looked up at the Jumbotron in Madison Square Garden: and it said: “Thanks Spike Lee, welcome Spike Lee to a Liberty game.” I was like: ‘oh no it’s over now.’ Like this is it, like this is it. And then you know, I had two of my best games in my entire career with him there?  And I just, that’s when I really felt that like I was on the top of Mount Everest. Like you know, it was the craziest thing I just felt like this is it. This is what athletes play for to be in the mecca; Spike Lee sideline at the Garden, damn!”

Suggested Articles:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Scoop B: Candice Wiggins Says She Enjoyed Playing In Front of Spike Lee at Madison Square Garden appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler. Photo Credit: Gemini Keez #Keezcam

Erica Wheeler has the dribble, drive and stamina as a spark plug off the Indiana Fever’s bench, but she also has the experience the be a community leader in life.

In her third season in the WNBA, Wheeler, a South Florida native by way of Rutgers, is enjoying good days.

According to her bio, Wheeler grew up in her grandmother’s five-bedroom house with a dozen other siblings and relatives until she was 11, in a rough-and-tumble section of Miami. Her mother helped steer her from playing pick-up ball in local parks, toward organized school and basketball at Monsignor Pace, and eventually Parkway Academy. “I grew up in a less fortunate neighborhood and just get the word out to my neighborhood or any neighborhood that I can visit and just let them know, no matter where you come from, don’t mean you have to act like where you come from or stay where you grew up at,” Wheeler told me in a recent interview on Scoop B Radio.

Check out Erica Wheeler and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson’s chat on Scoop B Radio.

During her high school career, Wheeler helped Parkway to a pair of state championships as a junior and senior in 2008 and 2009. After considering South Carolina, LSU and Florida, she chose Rutgers University to play collegiate ball.

Wheler had a decent college career. The speedy guard averaged 10.5 points per game in her season, the same year that her mother passed away from ovarian cancer. Wheeler credits Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer for helping her become ‘a young woman that will be ready for life.’

After graduating from Rutgers she spent time overseas playing in Puerto Rico and even in the WNBA with the New York Liberty. But she’s found a home with the Indiana Fever.

She and her team enjoyed the Fever’s first win of the season on Saturday after overcoming an 11-point deficit to beat the Connecticut Sun 81-79 on Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The victory was the team’s first victory since the retirement of Tamika Catchings.

Wheeler has found a home and she’s pleased with her journey, stating:

“There’s always better out there but do you want to get out and see what’s better or take a route that may be tough but will make you a better person. A lot of people want it easy a lot of people don’t want to go through the bumps and bruises to get to where they want to be but that’s what I had to do. I went through a lot, I ended up losing my mom a few years ago who was like my mentor, my motivator and my best friend and that’s what fuels me now because I know that she’s watching me now more than ever so every move I make is me trying to be a better person, a better ball player, a better sister, a better auntie. My whole thing now is just to be better at everything that I do.”

Suggested Articles:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Indiana Fever Guard Erica Wheeler: “A lot of people don’t want to go through the bumps and bruises to get to where they want to be” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Essence Carson is the ma’aam!

The 7th pick in the WNBA Draft out of Rutgers, by the New York Liberty, the Paterson, NJ native has always benefited from getting that homecooking. Now in LA as a member of the Los Angeles Sparks, she’s bi-costal and still running things after winning a championship with the Sparks this fall.

The coolest part about her is her leadership skills. It’s the little things that stand out.

In her last season with the New York Liberty, when we chatted about what made her team great, her response was: “We’re great individual players but we also have that chemistry. We have selfless players and that’s important when you’re trying to build a championship caliber team.”

Listen to her talk inspires you because she’s soft-spoken, but observant and honest. Other than hoops she also has a budding music career as both an artist and producer. Going by the name, Pr3pE which is  pronounced “Preppy” she’s in the indie hip hop scenem her first album, Broken Diary dropped a few years ago.

You can hear more from Carson in a Scoop B Radio original. Press play below.

Suggested Articles:

RESPECT. Interview: Sian Anderson Discusses Essential Grime Tracks and ’90s Hip-Hop

UK Grime Artist Skepta Drops Visuals For ‘Man’

The post Los Angeles Sparks’ Essence Carson Talks Leadership, Team Chemistry & More appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Los Angeles Clippers guard, Jamal Crawford has been in the NBA for 16 years!

Time flies when you’re having fun.

Drafted out of Michigan in the 2000 NBA Draft, Crawford is revered for his smooth ball handling ability and crafty scoring. That combo has won him three NBA Sixth Man of The Year awards.

Although a member of the Clippers, many folks out east remember Crawford as a member of the New York Knicks.

One guy who remembers J-Crossover’s talent is the man who traded for him, NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas. Thomas, once the Knicks’ President and head coach, had a keen eye on the Rainier Beach High School product. “I had followed Jamal since he came from Seattle to Michigan,” Thomas told me by phone on a recent episode of the Scoop B Radio podcast. “And I thought: a 6’6” guy with handles.”

Crawford’s best statistcal season came during the 2007-08 NBA season while with the Knicks. He averaged 20 points and 5 assists in 80 games for the orange and blue. “His body was just, his game was ahead of his body, if that makes sense; like the things he was trying to do out on the floor,” said Thomas.

“He was seeing the right things to do. You knew he was mature. And over the last couple of years, once his body caught up with his game, I mean, he’s been swinging points whenever he wants to.”

Hey did you see Crawford and DeAndre Jordan’s chemistry last night in the Clippers’ 120-108 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder yesterday?  It was a thing of beauty!!!

Remember Jamal Crawford S. Carter Reebok Sneaker Commercial? 

At one time, the Knicks had a roster that included Crawford, Stephon Marbury, Zach Randolph, David Lee, Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, Channing Frye, Steve Francis and Trevor Ariza. That’s a few championship rings, NBA All Star appearances and Slam Dunk Contest trophies attached to those names.

Disappointingly, the formula didn’t work out.

In a day and age where teams build through the NBA Draft like the once intact Oklahoma City team that included Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, as well as the current ‘Trust the Process,’ Philadelphia 76ers.

Imagine if that Knicks team had stayed together. “They were all under the age of 27 and that was a young team,” said Thomas “Had they been able to stay together and flourish, that would’ve been a pretty good team in the East.”

Suggested Articles:

RESPECT. Interview: Sian Anderson Discusses Essential Grime Tracks and ’90s Hip-Hop

UK Grime Artist Skepta Drops Visuals For ‘Man’

The post Isiah Thomas on Jamal Crawford as a Knick: “You Knew He Was Mature” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.